What better way to warm up in this weather full of temperatures in the single digits than a hot plate of soul food cooking?

ISU dining centers served their annual soul food menu in honor of Black History Month on Jan. 5.

The menu consisted of BBQ chicken, fried catfish, corn muffins with honey butter, macaroni and cheese, red velvet cupcakes and sweet potato pie.

According to the ISU dining informative visuals, soul food is a style of cooking that originated during American slavery. African slaves were given only the “leftover” and “undesirable” cuts of meat from their masters.

Jeremy Bowker, chef de cuisine for residential dining, shared his opinion about soul food.

“It’s kind of the migration of slaves from Africa to the United States and it falls into what was in that area, what they had available to them and what they ate,” Bowker said. “ I think that’s true within any culture, not just soul food in general.”

The dining services provided students with informative visuals that explained where each dish originated from and why they are considered “soul food.”

People who passed by the soul food station may have learned that cornbread was traditionally served to represent wealth, which explains it’s golden color or that the history of sweet potato pie goes all the way back to the African slave trade, when yams were a large produce in Africa.

Students who indulged in the soul food selection shared their thoughts on what comes to mind when they think of soul food.

“When I think of soul food, I think of good home style cooking,” said Parker Freeman, sophomore in aerospace engineering.

“I think of comfort food,” said Andrew Scott, freshman in pre-computer science. “A hearty meal that won’t leave you hungry.”

ISU dining collaborated with the Multicultural Student Affairs group to pull together the event and create the menu details.

“I think it’s nice that we get to tie in some educational aspect with the food and get to be involved with groups on campus,” Bowker said. “I think the more ISU dining can get involved with student groups, it’s going to be a win-win for everybody.”

In the future, ISU dining services are excited and looking forward to working with more student groups on campus to bring more diversity and events like this to our dining centers.